By Will Cripps, KSEC Political Working Group Organizer​

Last Wednesday, the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition headed to Frankfort for the Clean Energy Lobby Day. The passion my peers have for our state and its environment blew me away. Growing up in a rural Kentucky county, I struggled to find young people with whom I could relate. KSEC has given me the opportunity to meet like-minded students who are prepared to take action on behalf of their fellow Kentuckians and our shared environment. It gives us a chance to make our voices heard. I think that this unique opportunity is where the appeal of KSEC lies for many of its members. Countless young people are afraid to speak out because they are worried that no one will hear their voice. KSEC gives us a platform on which to unite and make our message heard. We can create a powerful movement that can resonate with millions of Kentuckians. We can generate meaningful change. We can speak up on behalf of the environment without fear that our voices will be silenced or drowned out. While our lawmakers may not pay attention to a solitary voice, they cannot ignore hundreds.

​My fellow KSEC members and I represent a statewide effort to give power to the people and forge the path to a bright future for our world. Our state, our country, and our planet depend on young people to put an end to climate change and encourage sustainability out of respect for our environment. Together, we can change Kentucky’s policies to promote the health of our ecosystems and our people.
In Frankfort, we discussed Senate Bill 190 and House Bill 339. This was my first experience with KSEC, and I absolutely loved it. As a high school sophomore, I was nervous to participate in an organization composed mostly of college students. However, as soon as I got the opportunity to speak with members, I felt welcomed and I was ready to fully immerse myself in this group.

After meeting my fellow KSEC members, we headed upstairs to speak with Senator Reggie Thomas, a sponsor of the bill. Afterwards, our groups split up to meet a number of other senators and representatives. My group met Representative Thomas McKee of Scott County. He showed interest in renewable energy and became engaged with our stories and the specifics of the bill. Once we finished our meeting with Representative McKee, KSEC members headed down to a hearing on a bill regarding coal miner safety, an important issue for many of our members. Later, we split up once more to distribute the outline of the bill.

We congregated for a debriefing to discuss the outcomes of our meetings. Then, we headed over to the Capitol Rotunda for a forum with our fellow members. Several students spoke about their own experiences with the group, and we participated in a powerful open discussion about youth participation, why we're involved with KSEC, and Kentucky’s energy future. I left Frankfort feeling hopeful for the state I call home and the future of my generation.

I can feel a change in the air when it comes to renewable energy in Kentucky, and it’s pretty damn exciting.

In the three years that I have been working with the KY Student Environmental Coalition we have seen more and more growing support from Kentuckians for renewable energy, green jobs and just transition. I have personally watched hundreds of young people go from feeling like there is nothing that we can do, to truly believing in collective power and our ability to make our futures better. In fact we’ve collected thousands of signature petitions from people, like you, who know that it is high time that our legislators hear our demands for the energy and industries of the future.

And our legislators are hearing us. Earlier this month we hosted a pinwheel planting event, where we planted over 200 pinwheels (each representing 10 petition signatures) out on the State Capitol lawn and then we went inside the capitol to a hearing on clean energy in the house economic development committee.

For the first time, we didn’t hear any push back from our elected officials about the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy, only questions about how it would work and how agriculture and farmers would be impacted. As the coal industry busts, for perhaps it’s last time, it is getting harder and harder to ignore the tens of thousands of jobs being created in nearby states, the ever growing energy bills from Kentuckians without access to energy efficiency, and the demand for new energy transition coming from their constituents.

That is why now is the time to put even more pressure on our elected officials to move us in the right direction and to build even more support for energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation. 

We’ll be hitting the sidewalks (and libraries and cafeterias and classrooms) at five different campuses over the next five days collecting petition signatures so that when we head back to Frankfort on March 9th for our Clean Energy Lobby Day we can plant wayy more pinwheels and show the growing demand of young people. It is our future and we deserve a say in how it’s powered.

Join us at Transy, EKU, Morehead, Centre and UK this week to gather signatures and educate our peers AND THEN JOIN US IN FRANKFORT. Your voice is so important, and we can’t do it without you!
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Stay tuned for more updates as the campus tour launches tonight and as we travel around the state in the next five days and follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Today I had to choose between going to vote or $20 and to be honest, I hesitated.

Technically speaking my choice was actually between a mandatory event at my campus or going to vote, as both fall into my only 2 hour span of free time, but only one is going to charge me for lack of attendance.

I can practically feel your judgement leaking through the computer screen, so before you think too poorly of me rest assured that my desire for representation outweighed my desire for extra grocery money.

My point is, as a college student I have faced similar scheduling dilemmas every year it has been my privilege to vote, it seems between classes, extracurriculars, jobs, and other obligations I am having to make a choice between what to cut to even have the chance to rush back to my hometown and make it to the polls. At times I feels like the world doesn't even want me to vote.
And I wouldn't be wrong.

Myself- and most of you who are reading this- probably fall into the "millennial generation", also known as the "Me, Me, Me generation", the "selfie (or selfish) generation", the "ruiners of our country as we know it" etc. and the world hates us for it.


(^I think I drink just the right amount of wine, thank you very much.)

If you do a quick google search of "millennial" I'm going to let you know right now, the results aren't pretty. According to the majority of the population we are believed to be selfish, uninformed, apathetic- we are one of the most underlooked and underappreciated voting demographics out there. 

Not only that, but our stats aren't looking so hot when it comes to the polls. According to projectvote.org 18-29 year olds make up 21% of the eligible voting population, but only aproximately half end up actually turning up to vote.

21 million citizens under 30 didn't show up to vote in 2008, and if you're a young person who doesn't attend college the chances of you voting are slim to none- yet when asked why they didn't vote hardly any reported apathy as their main concern. Many cited various reasons such as confusion or errors with figuring out where to vote as to why they hadn't in previous years. Yet we as young people can, and have, made a difference as a voting demographic. Analysis after the 2012 presidential election showed that youth voters made a decisive difference in 4 states- allowing Obama to successfully claim these states and snag the election.

We are looked down on for our apathy, yet evidence shows that our generation is one of the most politically aware of all time. Resources that weren't available to previous generations, such as online news and social media, allows us to quickly spread and share ideas and beliefs. We care, we try to stay informed, and we can organize political movements arguing for sweeping changes through a singular hashtag on twitter and have it catch fire across the world- and that scares people.

It can be easy to feel intimidated and unimportant when election season rolls around, especially when the overwhelming message from the media is that, as a young person, you do not matter- but the reality is we have, and can continue to, make a difference in our elections.

These upcoming elections represent an important chance for young people in Kentucky to have our voices heard. Currently our state offers very little opportunity for us to stay here after we graduate, the unemployment rate for young people in Kentucky is considerably higher than the national average- meaning that once we graduate we are effectively forced into leaving our home state in order to seek out better chances of employment.

Not only that, but our current representation does not adequately represent and endorse issues that Kentucky youths care about- such as addressing climate change, student loan policies, and the possibility of creating green jobs that would help us stay in-state. We can change all that, but only if we vote. Voting is the biggest step we can make towards achieving the changes we want for our country, our state, and our lives as citizens.
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We know we care, we know we're informed, we know we can make a difference- and now it's time to show the world.